Can fake ratings get your app banned?

Hi. I am an android developer and doing very well on Google play. One of my app is very popular and has over 400 ratings. Can fake ratings get my app banned? Because I noticed that someone is giving fake ratings to my app. Contacting Google about this seems vague to me as they never bother to reply. Help

I'm wondering how you can tell they are fake and why would someone do that?

If in fact "A" user is using multiple names (user accounts) to give you a bad rating - it is they who would likely get banned, not your app. I don't know how you would prove that but Google has the ability to trace IP addresses if you are certain you can provide user names.

Thanks for your reply leshor. I can see on my developer console that all 1 star reviews are coming from same android phone. I am thinking to buy fake 5 star ratings to cover up these bad reviews. Do you think its a good idea?

Thanks for your reply leshor. I can see on my developer console that all 1 star reviews are coming from same android phone. I am thinking to buy fake 5 star ratings to cover up these bad reviews. Do you think its a good idea?

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In a word, NO. If you get caught you are the one in trouble. You should file a formal complaint with Google. They won't take something llike that lightly.

Staff MemberPremium Member

What CJM said... you can't control who rates your apps. And unless you have many Google accounts, how many 'fake' reviews could you do? So unless you are very bored and create tons of gmail accounts just to review your apps, don't sweat it...